<?xml version='1.0'?> <!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->

<refentry id="locale.conf">
  <refentryinfo>
    <title>locale.conf</title>
    <productname>systemd</productname>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>locale.conf</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>locale.conf</refname>
    <refpurpose>Configuration file for locale settings</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename></para>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para>The <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> file configures
    system-wide locale settings. It is read at early boot by
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>

    <para>The basic file format of <filename>locale.conf</filename> is
    a newline-separated list of environment-like shell-compatible
    variable assignments. It is possible to source the configuration
    from shell scripts, however, beyond mere variable assignments, no
    shell features are supported, allowing applications to read the
    file without implementing a shell compatible execution
    engine.</para>

    <para>Note that the kernel command line options
    <varname>locale.LANG=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LANGUAGE=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_CTYPE=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_NUMERIC=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_TIME=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_COLLATE=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_MONETARY=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_MESSAGES=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_PAPER=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_NAME=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_ADDRESS=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_TELEPHONE=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_MEASUREMENT=</varname>,
    <varname>locale.LC_IDENTIFICATION=</varname> may be
    used to override the locale settings at boot.</para>

    <para>The locale settings configured in
    <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> are system-wide and are
    inherited by every service or user, unless overridden or unset by
    individual programs or individual users.</para>

    <para>Depending on the operating system, other configuration files
    might be checked for locale configuration as well, however only as
    fallback.</para>

    <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> is usually created and updated
    using
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>localectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    may be used to alter the settings in this file during runtime from
    the command line. Use
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    to initialize them on mounted (but not booted) system images.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Options</title>

    <para>The following locale settings may be set using
    <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename>:
    <varname>LANG=</varname>,
    <varname>LANGUAGE=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_CTYPE=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_NUMERIC=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_TIME=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_COLLATE=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_MONETARY=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_MESSAGES=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_PAPER=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_NAME=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_ADDRESS=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_TELEPHONE=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_MEASUREMENT=</varname>,
    <varname>LC_IDENTIFICATION=</varname>.
    Note that <varname>LC_ALL</varname> may not be configured in this
    file. For details about the meaning and semantics of these
    settings, refer to
    <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Example</title>

    <example>
      <title>German locale with English messages</title>

      <para><filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename>:</para>

      <programlisting>LANG=de_DE.UTF-8
LC_MESSAGES=en_US.UTF-8</programlisting>
    </example>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
      <title>See Also</title>
      <para>
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>localectl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
      </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>
